What I'm Digging

Published June 8, 2018 | By ashley english

Happy Friday, friends! Here’s hoping your coffee (or tea, or whatever you whet your whistle with in the morning) is to your liking, that your pets are giving you cuddles and not claws, and that your week has left you satisfied and not deflated. I’ve been rounding up some this and that’s I’ve come across recently that have captivated my attention. I’m thinking you might enjoy them, too. Away we go!!!

*Theresa Loe interviewed me recently for her Living Homegrown podcast, and our chat is live as of today! Listen in here.

*Slugs, aphids, and flea beetles, oh my! The battle of the bugs is real, and most assuredly upon us. Helpful troubleshooting tips for all those other creatures hoping to also take a bite out of whatever you’re growing.

*I am an avowed Anglophile. If it has to do with the UK, count me in. My sister Devan is currently in Scotland. She’s dating a Scotsman (hi Mark!), and his brother is getting married there this weekend. My father told me this morning that he’d Facetimed Devan today, and learned Mark was off getting his kilt fitted, as a Scotsman does. This is her third time in Scotland this year. Scotland, my favorite country of them all. NOT THAT I’M JEALOUS! I digress….in my love of all things British, I’ve become completely enamored of three t.v. programs hailing from those beloved distant shores: Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages, Escape To the Country, and Big Dreams, Small Spaces. If you like looking at lovely spaces and places like I do, consider these your three new binge-worthy delights.

*I truly adore everything from UK-based Carrier Company (see? Anglophile!), but I can’t begin to tell you how much I love these overalls (“dungarees”, as they call them).

*Strawberry Rhubarb Skillet Cobbler with Cardamom. Have mercy!

*My book club has chosen Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness as our selection. Any of you read it? I’d love to hear your thoughts. Brene knows what’s up!

*Six Things You’re Recycling Wrong. Diapers? Say what?!

*Thinking of making the Paloma my go-to summer cocktail.

*Do you cosleep with your babies? Your kids? I did with Huxley, and do with Alistair, though I definitely hadn’t planned on doing so either time. Interesting read on the subject over on NPR.

*What to learn how to make your own herbal tinctures? Here’s how!

Here’s hoping your weekend is rich in those things that bring you happiness. I know the news of this week has hit some folks hard. You never know what others are going through, despite what they may publicly present. If we can all strive to keep that in mind, at all times, I think the world would benefit mightily.

*I love this scene from the woods surrounding our home that Glenn took on his hike with Huxley yesterday. We call this confluence of two streams “Brother Falls”, owing both to the mini waterfalls it contains, and to the fact that it’s the site where we shared with Huxley that he had a brother coming.